Some of the wives of the Prophet asked him, "Who amongst us will be the first to follow you (i.e. die after you)?" He said, "Whoever has the longest hand." So they started measuring their hands with a stick and Sauda's hand turned out to be the longest. (When Zainab bint Jahsh died first of all in the caliphate of `Umar), we came to know that the long hand was a symbol of practicing charity, so she was the first to follow the Prophet and she used to love to practice charity. (Sauda died later in the caliphate of Muawiya).

the freed slave of Ibn `Abbas, that Maimuna bint Al-Harith told him that she manumitted a slave-girl without taking the permission of the Prophet. On the day when it was her turn to be with the Prophet, she said, "Do you know, O Allah's Apostle, that I have manumitted my slave-girl?" He said, "Have you really?" She replied in the affirmative. He said, "You would have got more reward if you had given her (i.e. the slave-girl) to one of your maternal uncles."

I and `Uthman bin `Affan went to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! You have given to Bani Al-Muttalib and left us although they and we are of the same kinship to you." Allah's Apostle said, "Bani Muttalib and Bani Hashim are one and the same." The Prophet did not give a share to Bani `Abd Shams and Bani Naufai. (Ibn 'Is-haq said, "Abd Shams and Hashim and Al-Muttalib were maternal brothers and their mother was 'Atika bint Murra and Naufal was their paternal brother.)

We went out intending (to visit) the Messenger of Allah (saws) and Wa'il ibn Hujr was with us. His enemy caught him. The people desisted from swearing an oath, but I took an oath that he was my brother. So he left him. We then came to the Messenger of Allah (saws), and I informed him that the people desisted from taking the oath, but I swore that he was my brother. He said: You spoke the truth: A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim.

I suffered from an illness. The Messenger of Allah (saws) came to pay a visit to me. He put his hands between my nipples and I felt its coolness at my heart. He said: You are a man suffering from heart sickness. Go to al-Harith ibn Kaladah, brother of Thaqif. He is a man who gives medical treatment. He should take seven ajwah dates of Medina and grind them with their kernels, and then put them into your mouth.

Malik related to me from Ishaq ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Talha that Rafi ibn Ishaq, the mawla of ash-Shifa informed him that he and Abdullah ibn Abi Talha had gone to visit Abu Said al-Khudri while he was ill. Abu Said said to them, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, informed us, 'The angels do not enter a house which contains pictures or images.' " Ishaq was not sure which of them Abu Said said.

Allah's Apostle said, "In Paradise there is a pavilion made of a single hollow pearl sixty miles wide, in each corner of which there are wives who will not see those in the other corners; and the believers will visit and enjoy them. And there are two gardens, the utensils and contents of which are made of silver; and two other gardens, the utensils and contents of which are made of so-and-so (i.e. gold) and nothing will prevent the people staying in the Garden of Eden from seeing their Lord except the curtain of Majesty over His Face."

We used to be happy on Fridays, for there was an old lady who used to pull out the roots of Silq and put it in a cooking pot with some barley. When we had finished the prayer, we would visit her and she would present that dish before us. So we used to be happy on Fridays because of that, and we never used to take our meals or have a mid-day nap except after the Friday prayer. By Allah, that meal contained no fat.

Allah's Apostle ordered us to do seven (things): to visit the sick, to follow the funeral processions, to say Tashmit to a sneezer, to help the weak, to help the oppressed ones, to propagate As-Salam (greeting), and to help others to fulfill their oaths (if it is not sinful). He forbade us to drink from silver utensils, to wear gold rings, to ride on silken saddles, to wear silk clothes, Dibaj (thick silk cloth), Qassiy and Istabraq (two kinds of silk). (See Hadith No. 539, Vol. 7)

I became sick so Allah's Apostle and Abu Bakr came on foot to pay me a visit. When they came, I was unconscious. Allah's Apostle performed ablution and he poured over me the water (of his ablution) and I came to my senses and said, "O Allah's Apostle! What shall I do regarding my property? How shall I distribute it?" The Prophet did not reply till the Divine Verses of inheritance were revealed .

I fell ill, Allah's Apostle and Abu Bakr came to visit me on foot. The Prophet came to me while I was unconscious. Allah's Apostle performed ablution and poured the Remaining water of his ablution over me whereupon I became conscious and said, 'O Allah's Apostle! How should I spend my wealth? Or how should I deal with my wealth?" But the Prophet did not give me any reply till the Verse of the laws of inheritance was revealed.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abd ar- Rahman ibn Abi Bakr was visiting A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may AIIah bless him and grant him peace, on the day that Sad ibn Abi Waqqas died, and he asked for some water to do wudu. A'isha said to him, ''Abd ar-Rahman! Perform your wudu fully, for I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Woe to the heels in the fire.' "

Kabshah, daughter of Ka'b ibn Malik and wife of Ibn AbuQatadah, reported: AbuQatadah visited (me) and I poured out water for him for ablution. A cat came and drank some of it and he tilted the vessel for it until it drank some of it. Kabshah said: He saw me looking at him; he asked me: Are you surprised, my niece? I said: Yes. He then reported the Messenger of Allah (saws) as saying: It is not unclean; it is one of those (males or females) who go round among you.

`Ubaid bin `Umar and I visited `Aisha, and he asked her about the migration. She said, "There is no migration today. A believer used to flee with his religion to Allah and His Prophet for fear that he might be put to trial as regards his religion. Today Allah has rendered Islam victorious; therefore a believing one can worship one's Lord wherever one wishes. But there is Jihad (for Allah's Cause) and intentions." (See Hadith 42, in the 4th Vol. for its Explanation)

I saw Marwan bin Al-Hakam sitting in the Mosque. So I came forward and sat by his side. He told us that Zaid bin Thabit had told him that Allah's Apostle had dictated to him the Divine Verse: "Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and those who strive hard and fight in the Cause of Allah with their wealth and lives.' (4.95) Zaid said, "Ibn-Maktum came to the Prophet while he was dictating to me that very Verse. On that Ibn Um Maktum said, "O Allah's Apostle! If I had power, I would surely take part in Jihad." He was a blind man. So Allah sent down revelation to His Apostle while his thigh was on mine and it became so heavy for me that I feared that my thigh would be broken. Then that state of the Prophet was over after Allah revealed "...except those who are disabled (by injury or are blind or lame etc.) (4.95)

The Prophet engaged me when I was a girl of six (years). We went to Medina and stayed at the home of Bani-al-Harith bin Khazraj. Then I got ill and my hair fell down. Later on my hair grew (again) and my mother, Um Ruman, came to me while I was playing in a swing with some of my girl friends. She called me, and I went to her, not knowing what she wanted to do to me. She caught me by the hand and made me stand at the door of the house. I was breathless then, and when my breathing became Allright, she took some water and rubbed my face and head with it. Then she took me into the house. There in the house I saw some Ansari women who said, "Best wishes and Allah's Blessing and a good luck." Then she entrusted me to them and they prepared me (for the marriage). Unexpectedly Allah's Apostle came to me in the forenoon and my mother handed me over to him, and at that time I was a girl of nine years of age.

Abu Musa said, "I was with the Prophet when he was encamping at Al-Jarana (a place) between Mecca and Medina and Bilal was with him. A bedouin came to the Prophet and said, "Won't you fulfill what you have promised me?" The Prophet said, 'Rejoice (at what I will do for you).' The bedouin said, "(You have said to me) rejoice too often." Then the Prophet turned to me (i.e. Abu Musa) and Bilal in an angry mood and said, 'The bedouin has refused the good tidings, so you both accept them.' Bilal and I said, 'We accept them.' Then the Prophet asked for a drinking bowl containing water and washed his hands and face in it, and then took a mouthful of water and threw it therein saying (to us), "Drink (some of) it and pour (some) over your faces and chests and be happy at the good tidings." So they both took the drinking bowl and did as instructed. Um Salama called from behind a screen, "Keep something (of the water for your mother." So they left some of it for her.

Zaynab said, "I went to the house of Zaynab bint Jahsh, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when her brother had died. She called for perfume and put some on and said, 'By Allah! I have no need of perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'It is not halal for a woman who trusts in Allah and the Last Day to abstain from adornment in mourning for someone who has died for more than three nights, except for four months and ten days for a husband.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik that Muhammad ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Nawfal said, ''Urwa ibn az-Zubayr informed me from A'isha umm al- muminin that Judama bint Wahb al-Asadiyya informed her that she heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'I intended to prohibit ghila but I remembered that the Greeks and Persians do that without it causing any injury to their children.' "

Malik explained, "Ghila is that a man has intercourse with his wife while she is suckling."

Malik related to me from a reliable source of his from Yaqub ibn Abdullah al-Ashajj from Bushr ibn Said from Sad ibn Abi Waqqas from Khawla bint Hakim that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Whoever dismounts to rest in a place should say, 'I seek refuge with the complete words of Allah from the evil of what he created,' (audhu bi kalimati-llahi at-tammati min sharri ma khalaqa), and nothing will harm him until he remounts."

Once Sa`da bint Zam`a went out at night for some need, and `Umar saw her, and recognizing her, he said (to her), "By Allah, O Sa`da! You cannot hide yourself from us." So she returned to the Prophet and mentioned that to him while he was sitting in my dwelling taking his supper and holding a bone covered with meat in his hand. Then the Divine Inspiration was revealed to him and when that state was over, he (the Prophet was saying: "O women! You have been allowed by Allah to go out for your needs."

The Prophet said, "I will be standing at the Lake-Fount so that I will see whom among you will come to me; and some people will be taken away from me, and I will say, 'O Lord, (they are) from me and from my followers.' Then it will be said, 'Did you notice what they did after you? By Allah, they kept on turning on their heels (turned as renegades).' " The sub-narrator, Ibn Abi Mulaika said, "O Allah, we seek refuge with You from turning on our heels, or being put to trial in our religion."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father from Zaynab bint Abi Salama that Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Umm Salama, the wife of Abu Talha al-Ansari, came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, 'Messenger of Allah! Allah is not ashamed of the truth-does a woman have to do ghusl if she has had an erotic dream?' He said, 'Yes, if she sees any liquid.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Fatima bint Abu Hubaysh said, 'Messenger of Allah, I never become pure - am I permitted to pray?' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'That is a vein, not menstruation. So when your period approaches, leave off from the prayer, and when its grip leaves, wash the blood from yourself and pray.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'n Nadr, the mawla of Umar ibn Ubaydullah, from Umayr, the mawla of Abdullah ibn Abbas, from Umm al-Fadl bint al-Harith, that she was present when some people were arguing on the day of Arafa about whether the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was fasting or not. Some of them said he was fasting, and some of them said he was not. So she sent a bowl of milk to him while his camel was standing still and he drank.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasim from his father that A'isha, umm al-muminin, proposed to Qurayba bint Abi Umayya on behalf of Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr. They married her to him and her people found fault with Abd ar-Rahman and said, "We only gave in marriage because of A'isha." A'isha therefore sent for Abd ar-Rahman and told him about it. He gave Qurayba authority over herself and she chose her husband and so there was no divorce.

(the wife of the Prophet) Abu Hudhaifa, one of those who fought the battle of Badr, with Allah's Apostle adopted Salim as his son and married his niece Hind bint Al-Wahd bin `Utba to him' and Salim was a freed slave of an Ansari woman. Allah's Apostle also adopted Zaid as his son. In the Prelslamic period of ignorance the custom was that, if one adopted a son, the people would call him by the name of the adopted-father whom he would inherit as well, till Allah revealed: "Call them (adopted sons) By (the names of) their fathers." (33.5)

That the Prophet sent his (i.e. Abu Burda's) grandfather, Abu Musa and Mu`adh to Yemen and said to both of them "Facilitate things for the people (Be kind and lenient) and do not make things difficult (for people), and give them good tidings, and do not repulse them and both of you should obey each other." Abu Musa said, "O Allah's Prophet! In our land there is an alcoholic drink (prepared) from barley called Al-Mizr, and another (prepared) from honey, called Al-Bit"' The Prophet said, "All intoxicants are prohibited." Then both of them proceeded and Mu`adh asked Abu Musa, "How do you recite the Qur'an?" Abu Musa replied, "I recite it while I am standing, sitting or riding my riding animals, at intervals and piecemeal." Mu`adh said, "But I sleep and then get up. I sleep and hope for Allah's Reward for my sleep as I seek His Reward for my night prayer." Then he (i.e. Mu`adh) pitched a tent and they started visiting each other. Once Mu`adh paid a visit to Abu Musa and saw a chained man. Mu`adh asked, "What is this?" Abu Musa said, "(He was) a Jew who embraced Islam and has now turned apostate." Mu`adh said, "I will surely chop off his neck!"